Control device for oil burners



y 4, 1953 R. F. ANDLER CONTROL DEVICE FOR OIL BURNERS Filed Nov. 13, 1950 4 NVENTOR. Byfieri Fflaa'lzr Patented July 14, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CONTROL DEVICE FOR OIL BURNERS, Robert F. Andler, Rutherford, N; J., assignor to Elect'rol B'urn'er Manufacturing (30;, Inc; Ruthe'rford; N.. J., a. corporation of New Jersey Application November 13, 1950, Serial No. 195,444

The present invention relates to oil. burners of the type providing a ball-likeflame, and, more particularly, relates to. improvements in oil burners, such as disclosed in. United States Let'- ters Patent No. 2,090,567, dated August 17, 1937.

As described in thejaforementioned patent,

more efiicient combustion can. be attained if the air is formed'into' an annulus having a gyrating motion imparted thereto, so that, when the air is discharged from the burner nozzle in an outwardly flaring conoidal annulus having a gyrating motion at the zone where the oil is sprayed into it, a vortex will be formed with the result that, at a short distance from the nozzle, the whirling mixture of air and oil will be drawn inwardly and in this manner provide for bette combustion.

In one form of commercial apparatus embodying this principle, it has been found advantageous to provide a blower having an air discharge port, a scroll case having an air inlet port in communication with the blower port, and a blast tube leading from the scroll case at right angles to the axis of the inlet port and having an outlet cooperating with the oil supply nozzle to produce the ball-like flame. Such apparatus produces a roaring flame, the roaring of which is generally believed to bean indication that maximum eificient combustion is being attained. One theor is that the rapidly rotating air in the blast tube produces a constantly varying degree of vacuum at the nozzle, which causes the flame to pulsate in a noisy but efiicient manner. It may also be that. the. vacuum effectproduced by the vortex is greater or less'than is required thus setting up pulsating currents.

It has now been discovered that such noise can be greatly minimized without impairing the efliciency of combustion.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide air flow control means in oil burners' of the foregoing character which minimize the noise of the flame without impairing the elliciency of combustion.

Another object is to provide such control means which are readily adjustable to reduce noise to a minimum.

Another object is to provide such control means which are simple and practical in construction likewise be applied to existing oil burners in a very convenient manner.

I ICIa im. (01. 230-114) Other and further objects willbe: obvious upon an understanding of the illustrative embodi ment about to be described} or will be. indicated in the appended claim, and various advantages not referred to herein will occur to one skilled inv the art upon employmentof the invention in practice. I

In accordance. with the present invention, it has'been found that the foregoing objects can be accomplished by providing an air flow control. device comprising avane in the scroll case adjacent the peripheral wall thereof; means for mounting the vane for rotation about an axis parallel. to the axes of the scroll: case and the blast tube, and means including an element such as a knob positioned exteriorly of the-end Wall of the scroll: case for effecting rotation of. the

vane into desired positions-of adjustment- As about to bev described. in connection with a. preferred embodiment of the invention, the

vane may be a. substantially flat baffle. plate positioned substantially diametrically opposite the scroll case. inlet port. 1 The knoband the ex.- terior. of the end wall of the scroll case may have cooperating, index. means and indicia for indieating the position in which the vane is adjusted. Resilient means cooperating with the vane. may be provided for retaining the. vane in its adjusted position.

Apreferredmbodlment of the invention. has been. chosen for purposes of illustration and description as. is. shown in the accompanying drawing, forming. a part of the specification, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of an oil burner embodying the present inventioma portion thereof being shown in section.

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the oil burner, with 'a portion thereof being shown. in section.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional viewof the scroll case illustrating the. air flow control device therein as viewed from one end thereof. i 4 is a sectional. view taken along. the line 4-4 on Fig. 3 illustrating the control device in detail.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary rear elevational view illustrating the knob and the position indicating means in detail.

Referring to the drawings in detail and more particularly to Figs. 1 and 2 thereof, there is shown an oil burner which generally comprises an air blower 10 having an air discharge port I I, an electric motor It for operating the blower, a scroll case M having an air inlet port IS in connection with the port 1 l, and a blast tube l6 leading from the scroll case at right angles to the inlet port [5. As shown, the scroll case has a peripheral wall [1 in which the inlet port is located, and has an end Wall I8 opposite the blast tube. As in standard practice with oil burners of the aforementioned type, an oil supply pipe [9 extends axially through the scroll case and the blast tube and terminates in a nozzle which is located adjacent the outlet end 2! of the blast tube. Details of construction of the nozzle 20 and the end 2| of the blast tube are not shown herein because the present invention is not directly concerned therewith and because such details are well known in theart.

The location of the control device of the present invention in relation to the scroll case is shown in Figs. 1 and 2, this device being generally indicated by the reference numeral 22. In practice, it has been found that most advantageous results are attained by positioning this device adjacent the peripheral wall [1 of the scroll case and substantially opposite the air inlet port 15. r As. illustrated more particularly in Figs. 3, 4 and5, the control device 22 generally comprises a vane 24,,a shaft 25 extending through and rotatably mounted in an aperture 26 formed in the end wall 18 of the scroll case, the shaft having the vane connected to its inner end, and a knob 21 on the outer end of the shaft positioned exteriorly of the scroll case, whereby said vane is mounted-for rotation about an axis parallel to the axes of the scroll case and the blast tube to effect'desired positions of adjustments.

, As'shown, the vane has a flat surface 30 on one side thereof for deflecting the flow of air (indicated by the arrow A Fig. 3) inwardly of the peripheral wall IT. For practical purposes the vane may be a substantially flat baffle plate. Maximum deflection is effected by positioning the surface 30 substantially perpendicular to the air stream, as shown in full lines, and minimum deflection is effected by positioning this surface substantially parallel to the air stream, as shown in broken lines. By varying the position of the vane, it has been found that the speed of rotation of'the air stream can be controlled with the proper forward motion of the air stream'whereby to produce a uniform flame of maximum combustion efficiency, regardless of slight mechanical variations in the scroll case, the blast tube and outlet end contour or the location of the oil supply nozzle with respect to the outlet end, and at the same time minimize the noise of the flame.

The vane further is provided with a formation 3| on theside opposite the surface 30 having a bore 32 in which the inner end portion 34 of the shaft 25 is secured by a set screw 35. In order to retain the vane in desired positions of adjustment, a cylindrical spring 36 surrounds the shaft and is held under compression between the interior of the end wall 18 and the formation 3!. Indication of the position of the vane surface 30 with respect to the air stream is provided by an index mark 31 on the knob face which mark manufacture thereof by providing the aperture 26 in the scroll case end wall l8 and forming the indicia on the latter during the casting thereof. Similarly, the control device can be applied to existing oil burners of the herein described type by drilling the aperture 26 in the wall l8, applying'the indicia on the exterior of this wall in any suitable manner, for example, by adhering decalcomania. thereto; and then assembling the knob, the vane and the spring as shown.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that the present invention provides a simple and practical oil burner air flow control device which is economical in construction and is readily assembled. This device is adapted to vary the rotational speed and characteristics of the air stream to produce maximum efficient combustion in all instances while minimizing the noise of the flame.

As various changes may be made in the form,

construction and arrangement of the parts herein, without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention and without sacrificing any of its advantages, it is to be understood that all matters are to be interpreted as illustrative and not in any limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

I In an oil burner. the combination with a blower having an air discharge port, a scroll case having an air inlet port'in communication with the blower discharge port, and a blast tube leading from the scroll case at right angles to the axis of the inlet port, of a vane having a flat face in said scroll case adjacent a peripheral wall thereof and between the inlet port and blast tube, said face being of substantially smaller surface area than theinner cross-sectional area of the scroll case in order to avoid stoppage of air through said scroll case from said blower, means includ- ROBERT F. AN DLER.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,090,567 Andler Aug. 17, 1937 2,197,912 7 Andler et al. Apr. 23, 1940 2,214,246 Finnigan 1 Sept. 10, 1940 2,433,317 Carter Dec. 23, 1947 2,478,457 Camerino Aug. 9, 1949 

